The Arkansaw traveler., 1887-08-27

For answer he was knocked down by blow from capstan- bar, and quickly bound, hand and foot.
 Then they rushed upon the captain, who shot the foremost through the shoulder; but the revolver was knocked away, and his throat clutched by the fingers of burly stevedore, whose hand was raised to stab him.
 At this crisis there was heard a shriek so loud and unexpected that the astonished ruf1ians remained mo-
 tionless for an instant. A white form,
 with long blonde hair streaming in
 the wind, bounded through the cabin door, and, rushing upon the captains assailant, caught the knife before it
 could descend.
 Terror stricken, the superstitious
 men fell back. Before the surprise
 was over the other officers ran up
 from below, and the mutineers were
 soon cowed and driven off the quarter
 deck.
 The woman was the captains wife
 The men did not know that she was
 on board; so her sudden appearance
 and bravo defense of her husband had
 made them waver at the time when
 success depended on immediate action
 After this there were no more open
 acts of mutiny; but the crew worked
 with sullenness which showed that
 the fire of discomfort was not
 quenched, but smouldering. One tri-
 fling cause served to foment the bitter
 feeling between men and officers,
 which, under different circumstances,
 would have been considered only a
 joke.
 The mate had parrot, which was
 given the freedom of the decks when
 the ship had run down into warm
 weather. During the previous home-
 ward-voyage this bird had learned to
 repeat some of the most common or ders. Until the new crew learned to distinguish the officers voices from the imitation, they were frequently
 sent aloft to loose sail or called aft to the braces, by the mischievous bird, , much to the annoyance of the mates
 and the anger of the men. Finally,
 ust as the master had made up his mind to have the parrot kept below r decks, it disappeared. The mate never
 discovered how; but, of course, he
 believed the men had killed and
 thrown it overheard.
 The man whom the captain wounded , recovered slowly from the wound, having for some time a high fever He was taken aft and cared for with
 great kindness by the captain and his
 wife, despite the fact that he had been , the leader in the mutiny. When he
 returned to his bunk in the forecastle, he had been completely won by the treatment he had received from the man he had sought to kill. He there fore exerted his influence in the in- terest of peace, but the breach be- [ tween the men and officers had been l constantly widening during his ill., ness and was now too great to be
 closed by any ordinary measures. , The master was well aware of the insubordination among the crew, and f. began to consider the wisdom of aban- doning his gentle measures and put ting the ringleaders in irons. He en- joined upon his officers extra watch } tulness and firmness, but distinctly , forbade any bullying or hazing. This was just before the ship crossed
 the line.
 One evening the ship was struck by a "white squall'-one of those marine tornadoes which causes the loss of many ship.
 ' The night had the surpassing beau- ty which makes the tropics so delight 3 ful. Sky and sea were nearly the same r shade of clear, soft blue, separated by l white, tilmy haze hiding the horizon. The stars of the southern hemisphere shone overhead with a brilliancy sell dom seen in northern attitudes. The s crests of the waves gleamed with [ phosphorescent light against the dark
 background of the sea. Rising in , quick succession, they made running I leaps up the side of the ship, falling f back again with musical murmur, I down over the copper -sheeting. 9 The breeze was only fresh enough I to gently incline the deck of the ship, f and the officer of the watch leaned s against the taffrail, looking at the swelling canvass towering above him in three snowy pyramids. crossed at 9 intervals by the black yards which F stuck out from the taut weather -leech- { es of the sails, like spines in the dorsal- fin of fish; or, dropping his eyes, he 3 watched the jelly-fish floating by, glowing with phosphorescent light red, blue, green and yellow-in such
 numbers that he amused himself by B fancying the mermaids were having a dance by the light of Chinese lanterns. 3 Presently little rattle of the can- vass recalled him from his thoughts, and raising his head with a warning "No higher" to the helmsman, he l noticed the white haze on the weather